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Cafe owner faces court ruling on battery charge

ST. CHARLES – A former waitress testified her boss grabbed her right breast and squeezed it against her will – a charge the restaurant owner denied during a misdemeanor trial Monday.

After a lengthy trial at branch court, Kane County Judge Katherine Moran said she would issue a ruling Oct. 4.

Dimitrios Lolis, 54, of St. Charles, owner of The Copper Fox Cafe, 305 W. Main St., St. Charles, faces a misdemeanor charge of battery/making physical contact from an incident on Aug. 20, 2011, alleged by Katy Green, 24, of Geneva.

The charge carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500.

In closing arguments, Lolis’ attorney Glenn Sowa said if Green was so disgusted, upset and provoked by Lolis’ alleged actions, why did she go to work for two more weeks before filing a police report and quitting?

Sowa cited testimony from others at the restaurant which contradicted Green’s statement, saying her demeanor was not that of a person who was upset and crying.

“Nobody ever saw her cry,” Sowa said, as Green returned to work for seven more shifts. “Because it never happened.”

But Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Bianca Camargo countered that Green was a single mother supporting her daughter and had to work at The Copper Fox Cafe to earn a living.

Camargo said people can smile and still be dying inside, and coworkers were not with Green all the time and did not see her when she cried.

Camargo said witnesses who testified to Lolis’ character as an honest person who does not break the law had no bearing on the case, as his wife and a neighbor – who testified – were not there when the alleged incident occurred.

The incident occurred at the end of a shift after 10 p.m. when Lolis invited Green and two other employees to share a drink, Camargo said.

Camargo said Green remembered that she did not clock-out and went back to take care of it and alleged that Lolis followed her and grabbed her breast.

“No one was around,” Camargo said. “She was crying and frightened … . She has no motive to lie.”

Sowa said it was not the defense’s responsibility to assert a motive for lying.